The following United States patents comprise the prior art most pertinent to the present invention: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,965,788, 3,134,409, 3,092,156, 3,051,203.
An increasingly important use for chain saws is the cutting of logs and rough slabs of wood into useful lumber size pieces. Since it is virtually impossible to make straight, planar cuts with a manually supported chain saw, chain saw mills and lumber making attachments have been devised in the prior art for supporting a chain saw during cutting operations to produce smooth cuts and linear pieces.
Chain saw mills and lumber making attachments must securely support the chain saw during a cutting procedure, and also must guide the chain saw bar along a plane so that the cut surface is as planar as possible. Chain saw mills for fashioning lumber out of rough wood often support the chain saw bar in a substantially vertical disposition, and are either bolted or clamped to the chain saw bar. Generally speaking, the prior art devices are guided by a track, tube, or rail which is secured to the wood being cut. These devices achieve planar cuts by traversing the track or rail while supporting the chain saw bar during a cutting procedure.
A significant defect in these prior art chain saw mills is that the guiding track or tube must be reset on the wood being cut prior to each successive cutting procedure. This is a laborious and time consuming task, which must be meticulously carried out in order that the guiding track be aligned parallel to the previously cut surface. Furthermore, any irregularities on the guiding member, such as scratches, nicks, corroded spots, or accumulations of saw dust will cause these devices to deviate from the desired planar cut. Furthermore, these devices generally include a great number of rotating and moving parts which require continual maintenance and inspection.